Experts to those copying dance: Watch your back

Hours after a traditional Chinese dance performance amazed viewers both online and offline during a holiday gala last week, a number of audacious netizens began posting videos of themselves recreating the show's signature move－bending backward until their torso is parallel with the ground.

As the graceful but demanding backbend has become an online sensation, professional dancers and orthopedists have warned that without years of training and proper guidance, such imitations could cause severe injuries.

"I am very grateful to audience members who have expressed their love and support for our performance," said Meng Qingyang, lead dancer of the show. "A growing number of youngsters are now fond of traditional Chinese culture, and it's my honor to be able to promote such a treasure on the stage."

The program, which aired on Jan 31 during the annual Chinese New Year gala, was inspired by one of the best-known classical Chinese paintings－A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng, an artist who lived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is now kept at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

The scroll is emblematic of a genre of Chinese fine art that highlights two colors from precious minerals－azurite blue and malachite green－and choreographers dubbed the performance Only Blue and Green.

The specific move that has prompted the online dance craze involved the dancers bending backward at a 90 degree angle. Meng said the bend is meant to sketch the shape of steep cliffs and winding mountains in the painting.

Netizens soon coined a term for the move-"blue-green waist". On the Sina Weibo micro-blogging platform, topics such as "How to practice the blue-green waist?" and "Doing the blue-green waist challenge" went viral.

"As professional dancers, we are capable of pulling off the move relying on our strength in our cores and legs, as well as a good sense of balance," Meng said. "But others should avoid imitating us because it might hurt your bones."

Cui Zhigang, an orthopedist at the China Rehabilitation Research Center, told Beijing Daily that deep backbends will exert immense pressure on spinal discs and related bones, and could lead to lumbar disk diseases and knee injuries.

"These dancing artists have trained for years before getting on stage," he said. "For people who rarely work out or have not undergone systematic training, imitating the move is very risky."

Zhao Tian, a yoga instructor based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, said she successfully copied the move on her first try, which she attributed to 10 years of yoga practice.

"The pose is quite elegant, but also very challenging, as I need to fully activate my core muscles," she said.